Job Description

At SolarAfrica, deals are won by vision and relationships and sustained by discipline and flawless execution. The Sales Operations Manager is the guardian of our commercial engine, ensuring every proposal, every contract, and every CRM record is accurate, timely, and trusted.





This role exists to free salespeople to sell while ensuring our data, processes, and documentation are beyond reproach. By bringing order, accountability, and system mastery, the Sales Operations Manager transforms sales chaos into commercial momentum. You will be the person who turns ambition into reliable execution and in doing so, directly accelerates SolarAfrica's growth.





This role owns the systems, data, and processes that drive deal velocity, CRM hygiene, and pipeline visibility. Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer, the Sales Operations Manager ensures that the Onsite and Virtual sales teams are supported with timely reporting and commercial responsiveness.

Position of the job in the organisation:

Reports to the Chief Commercial Officer

Principal responsibilities:

Sales Support Team Management

Recruit, train, and develop a high-performing Sales Support team that proactively supports all sales activities. Establish clear goals, KPIs, and review structures for the team; conduct regular performance check-ins and development discussions. Take full ownership of sales administration -- ensuring all proposals, contracts, and documentation are version-controlled, error-free, and delivered on time. Run a zero-defect contract process: no incorrect versions, no missing approvals, no client-facing errors. Monitor workloads, allocate tasks, and drive service excellence within the Sales Support team

Sales Enablement & CRM Ownership

Own HubSpot end-to-end: data accuracy, pipeline integrity, user compliance, and reporting. Set and enforce "non-negotiable" minimum data standards (mandatory fields, activity logging, deal stage hygiene). Develop and maintain robust, user-friendly sales playbooks, templates, and enablement materials. Support sales forecasting accuracy by maintaining up-to-date and reliable pipeline data. Train sales staff on CRM best practices and new feature rollouts to ensure maximum adoption and impact. Produce transparent reports on pipeline health, adoption, and sales discipline for the CCO.

Accountability & Enforcement

Hold salespeople and managers accountable for their inputs and process compliance. Stand firm in enforcing standards and SLAs -- escalating where necessary to ensure governance is respected. Introduce check-ins, audits, and scorecards that make accountability visible.

Cross-Functional Liaison with Operations, Legal & Commercial Teams

Coordinate review and approval processes for proposals, term sheets, and final contracts. Track and report on contract turnaround times, highlighting delays and implementing corrective actions. Maintain an organised repository of all legal and commercial templates to ensure version control and compliance. Facilitate communication between sales, legal, operations, and finance teams to align on deal structure, risk, approvals, reduce delays and eliminate errors. Be the single source of truth for commercial templates, ensuring strict version control.

Reporting & Commercial Intelligence

Design and deliver real-time dashboards that track key metrics, including lead conversion rates, deal velocity, and pipeline health. Provide monthly and quarterly commercial performance reports that highlight risks and opportunities. Analyse sales data to identify trends, forecast future performance, and support strategic decision-making. Support the CCO and leadership team with data and insights during board meetings and strategy sessions.

Training, Systems & Process Improvement

Evaluate existing sales processes and identify opportunities to automate, simplify, or enhance efficiency. Lead initiatives to reduce proposal turnaround times and improve the customer experience. Streamline handovers between Sales, Operations, and Execution teams, ensuring clear responsibilities and minimal friction. Implement feedback mechanisms to continually refine sales tools and support materials. Ensure training and coaching are facilitated regularly, and support tool adoption



Any other job duties associated with this role

PERSON DESCRIPTION

Experience:

5+ years of proven experience in sales operations, sales support, or a similar commercial operations role. Strong experience managing or leading a team. Proven track record working with CRM systems (HubSpot preferred). Change management experience is required in this role, as it involves driving CRM/process adoption while managing resistance. Training and coaching experience, particularly in supporting Sales Teams in utilising tools like HubSpot effectively. Legal contract familiarity, not legal expertise, but enough exposure to understand risks and terms.

Specific attributes:

Excellent systems thinking and process optimisation mindset. Strong commercial acumen and deep understanding of sales cycles. High attention to detail and confident working with data and reporting. Exceptional interpersonal and leadership skills to guide and motivate a support team. Strong problem-solving abilities and a proactive approach.

Desirable attributes:

Experience in the renewable energy sector. Experience supporting both direct and indirect (partner) sales channels. Exposure to contract management and working closely with legal teams. Strong change management and project management skills.

What Does Success Look Like?

By 3 Months

I will have a fully onboarded Sales Support team operating under clear KPIs and expectations. I will improve HubSpot hygiene and data integrity to above 80% accuracy. I will reduce proposal turnaround time to under 5 working days. I will deliver initial dashboards and reports to support weekly sales reviews. I will be building strong working relationships with Legal and Finance teams.

By 6 Months

I can maintain HubSpot pipeline hygiene consistently above 90%. I will keep proposal turnaround time consistently under 3 working days. I can reduce contract SLA for standard agreements to under 7 working days. I will ensure the Sales Support team achieves 100% of LMA cadence and demonstrates measurable productivity improvements.

By 12 Months

I will maintain forecasting variance consistently below 15%, supporting accurate revenue planning. I will achieve a sales team satisfaction score above 80% on internal surveys. I will establish the Sales Support team as a strategic asset in the eyes of sales leadership and stakeholders. I will be driving continuous improvement initiatives, with documented process optimisations and measurable efficiency gains.

Core Values:

We hire, reward, and recognise our team against these values. It is imperative that you believe in these values and demonstrate them consistently.




We are passionate and proud of what we do. We communicate candidly, especially when it is difficult. We take the initiative, share our mistakes, and grow together. We are dependable and take accountability. * No one person is bigger than the solution - no egos.